Mark Fields becomes Ford’s new CEO as Mulally steps down
Ford has announced that COO Mark Fields will take the reins as CEO midway through this year
Ford has announced that insider Mark Fields is to become its new CEO, replacing the esteemed Alan Mulally. Fields has been accredited for righting the company's North American business
American automaker Ford has revealed that former COO Mark Fields will succeed Alan Mulally as its new Chief Executive on July 1, six months sooner than previously anticipated. The appointment will bring an end to Mulally’s eight years at the helm, through which time he has instrumented an impressive rise from near bust to boom.
“Alan deservedly will be long remembered for engineering one of the most successful business turnarounds in history,” said the company’s Executive Chairman Bill Ford in a press release. “Under Alan’s leadership, Ford not only survived the global economic crisis, it emerged as one of the world’s strongest auto companies. We always will be grateful to Alan for his leadership, compelling vision and for fostering a culture of working together that will serve our company for decades to come.”
The California-born CEO has led the company’s One Ford vision since September 2006 after being brought in from Boeing, and while his initial two years resulted in losses of $30bn, the five years from 2008 onwards reeled in an impressive $42bn. The company this year is expected to post a pretax profit of $8bn, as Fields readies to take the reins at an opportune time for America’s number two automaker.
[W]hile his initial two years resulted in losses of $30bn, the five years from 2008 onwards reeled in an
impressive $42bn
Fields, 53, was made COO as recently as December 2012; however, since October 2005 he has served as Executive Vice President and President of the company’s American operations. The company veteran, who joined Ford in 1989, has been widely accredited with righting the company’s North American business, having led the department from consistent annual losses to record profits in each of the last four years.
Prior to his American endeavours, Fields instrumented a product-led transformation of Ford’s European operations, which again serves to underline his proven ability to lead the company’s global operations onwards and upwards.
What’s more, having worked closely alongside Mulally, Fields is expected to lead the company in much the same way. “Ford’s future is so bright, and Mark – supported by an experienced and dedicated senior leadership team – is absolutely the right leader to continue to deliver on our compelling vision,” said Mulally.
